It really just depends on how someone values their own work. When I was a child, I grabbed any money I saw on the ground, even pennies behind crates, as that was my sole "income". I don't anymore.

Your joke does remind me of a time I was doing a work errand with a colleague and he was upset that I didn't turn around and park so we could rush to pick up the cash that was on the ground that we passed. It was probably a dozen bills, but we weren't close enough to see face value. The premise was absurd to me but for him it would have been worth it. At the time we were just out of high school, and his very wealthy parents would have given him anything he asked for anyway, so I didn't see why he cared.